Nordics Bo Kensho Setsu
by Arumajiro
Summary: Taking place in a school setting, the Nordics have to go through classes (and of course band) while meeting new people and figuring out who exactly they are. Mostly in Denmark's POV, following his new life style at the private academy. DenNor and SuFin
1. A New School, A New Life

"So this is it, hunh?" A boy around the age of 16 muttered. The boy was fairly tall, had blonde hair that seemed rather disheveled, and was wearing a red shirt with jeans. He walked up to an extravagant entrance. There was a door that appeared to be gold, but probably just had gold plating. Around it was a small building that didn't look anything like a school.

The boy opened the doors and walked in, to find a line of students around his age waiting to enter. It appeared to be a long hallway, and at the end was a man- probably a teacher or administrator- attending to the students. Following the area in which the man was situated, there were stairs that went down. The line began to shrink, as students went down the stairs, and soon the boy was next in line.

"Name?" The man asked.

"Denmark, sir," The boy replied.

"Welcome. I am the principal here, and if you have any problems, please visit my office. Now, you can go down the stairs and the first right turn will be the hallway to the dorms. You're one of the earlier arrivals, so you can choose where you want to stay." The man told him as he went through a list of names and checked him off.

"Okay. Thank you," Denmark said as he walked off towards the dorms. 'This is a really nice school… a lot better than my old one, at least,' he thought. As he continued through the hall, the dorms showed up. Most of the ones in the front were already taken, as the doors were already closed. The dorms with open doors meant there was still space.

Denmark walked into a dorm, and saw that it was completely empty. Hopefully, he wouldn't have to share the dorm with anyone else. As he settled and left some of his belongings on the bed, someone walked into the dorm. He was short, but still looked rather mature, and was wearing a greenish-blue shirt with jeans.

"Hello! I'm Finland. You can call me Tino Do you mind if I stay here?" He asked.

"Sure, you can stay as long as you don't mind my snoring," Denmark replied with a smirk. He continued sorting through his belongings, and was about to go out and explore when he realized that Finland might just be his first friend here. "Hey Tino, do you wanna go explore this school with me?"

"I'd love to! Where do you want to start?" he replied.

"Well… I'm in band, so I'd like to find the band room," Denmark stated.

"I'm in band, too! I play the flute," Tino exclaimed as he did a little dance to show his excitement. He turned and looked at Denmark. "What instrument do you play?"

"Trumpet. Isn't the flute a little too girly for a guy like you?" He asked with a joking tone.

"I didn't originally want to play the flute, but my mother use to play it all the time when I was younger. When she died, she left it in my possession and I decided I would play it in her memory," Tino answered in a bitter sweet manner.

"Oh… I'm sorry, I didn't realize," Denmark quickly replied. He didn't mean to make fun of Finland, it just seemed that it was rather odd for a guy to play the flute.

"No, no, it's fine. It happened years ago, and I really don't mind talking about it," he said.

"What about your dad?"

"I've never met my dad. I was told that he just left once he learned I was going to be born. I'm not quite sure why… maybe he just didn't want to have a family," Finland explained. Denmark was surprised that he didn't seem sad.

"And you don't mind?" Denmark questioned.

"No, I really don't mind. I mean, I can understand if he wasn't ready for a family. Some people just don't have the ability to be a parent. So I don't blame him. What about your parents?" He asked.

"My parents don't live too far from here, and they just felt that I should go to a private school and live on my own for a bit to become more independent. I think they're just too annoyed about having me around," Denmark told Tino.

"Annoyed? Why would they be annoyed by you?"

"Haha… I'm rather loud once you get to know me. I think they were just bothered by having to take care of me and such. It doesn't really phase me, either, because I've been wanting to get out of the house for years. Now's just my chance."

"As long as you're happy about it, I guess that can't be too bad," Tino commented. "Hey, we're at the band room, now!" He pointed to a room the left.

"Wow… this is huge compared to my old school. And really fancy. I'm liking the private school atmosphere," Denmark grinned. He looked over to a boy playing the trumpet. He was fairly short, had blonde hair with a little piece of it curling out on the left side of his face, a clip in the shape of a plus sign, and a scowl on his face. Denmark decided to walk over and talk to him. "Hey, I play the trumpet, too! We're going to be really good buddies."

The boy stuck out his foot, but Denmark didn't notice and tripped over it as he walked over. "I'm Norway. Nice to meet you, too," He said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"What was that for?" he said while rubbing his head from falling over.

"You left yourself wide open. I couldn't resist, to be honest," Norway told him.

"Norway! Don't trip people, it's not nice," A boy who looked a lot like Norway said as he headed over in their direction. He had a silver tint to his hair, and was wearing a white shirt with jeans. Once he noticed that Denmark was going to introduce himself, he turned to the side and looked flustered. "I-I'm Iceland. Nice to meet you." He shoved out his hand to shake Denmark's hand.

"I'm Denmark! Haha… you're a bit shy, aren't you?" Denmark laughed as he shook Iceland's hand. "Are you guys brothers? You look really similar."

"Yeah, we're brothers. And Iceland's a bit shy. Don't mind him. He'll warm up to you if you actually get to know us well enough. But I wish you luck on that. We don't tend to branch out very often." Norway explained. He turned away and continued playing the trumpet.

"Hmmm… well it was nice talkin'!" Denmark exclaimed as he turned around and headed towards Tino. He turned back to look at Norway one more time and thought 'Norway and I are going to be great friends. I'll just have to work really hard…'

"Are you ready to head back to our dorm?" Finland asked. He placed his flute back into his cubby and headed out towards the door. Denmark followed, and they quietly walked back. "So I see you made new friends, hunh?"

"I guess you could call them that… they both seem like the inward type of people, but I'll just have to work my friend-making magic. Did you meet anyone?"

"No, I haven't met anyone yet. I just wanted to see where the band room was, and make sure my flute was in a cubby. We might as well get a good amount of sleep tonight because band camp tomorrow is going to be really tiring, or so they say." Finland warned. They continued to the dorm, and crashed as soon as the two had entered.


	2. Band Camp

There was a loud beeping as Denmark hit his alarm clock and turned, away from the sunlight seeping through the curtains. 'Where am I?' He thought. When he saw Tino, Denmark realized that he was at his new school. Band camp was about to begin.

"Denmark! Are you ready for band camp? I'm so excited!" Finland exclaimed as he practically jumped up and down, about to start the new day.

"Ugh… I'm not a morning person, Tino. You might want to learn that…" He grumbled in reply. Denmark pulled up his sheets over his head, and tried to get back to sleep.

"But we're supposed to be in the band room in 15 minutes!"

"15 minutes… what?" Denmark jumped out of bed and quickly headed for the bathroom to get ready. He hadn't realized that he slept through the first two alarms that went off.

Soon afterwards, Denmark and Finland left their dorm. At the exact same time, Norway and Iceland walked out of theirs, heading briskly to the band room. This happened to be the dorm across from theirs.

"Are these your new friends?" Iceland asked.

"Uhhh… yeah, actually. I didn't know they were right across from us. Hey Norway! Iceland! Wait up!" Denmark yelled as he sprinted to catch up with them. Finland quickly followed.

"H-hello… Denmark," Iceland replied. Norway just glanced behind and continued walking.

"This is Iceland and Norway," Denmark introduced as he pointed to each one. "Iceland's really shy, but he'll talk to me. On the other hand, Norway just always has a scowl on his face."

"I do not!" Norway complained as he continued to scowl. He shifted his gaze to the side and continued to walk in a furious silence.

"Nice to meet you! I look forward to talking to both of you," Finland said. "I'm Finland! But you can call me Tino if you want. It really doesn't matter to me." Iceland shook his hand and Norway just nodded in acknowledgement. "So Iceland, what instrument do you play?"

"I play the trombone," He replied as he looked over at Norway. Norway continued to look upset, and they all knew that this was going to be an interesting first day of band camp.

Band Entrance Ceremony

"All right, everyone head to your section leader and talk about the basics of marching," The band director said after his long entrance speech. Denmark and Finland were sitting near each other in the back, while Iceland and Norway were in the middle row of the chorus room. For some reason, the band room wasn't used for the initial meeting. But Denmark didn't really mind.

"Trumpets over here!" the section leader announced from across the room as he walked outside to the field. Since the school's underground, they had to walk up stairs to get outdoors. Denmark took this as his chance to talk to Norway a bit more.

"Hey Nor-ge!" He tried to yell, but right when Denmark said Nor, Norway punched him in the face. "Haha, Norge! That's a cool nickname. I'll call you that from now on." Denmark remarked as he rubbed his face from the punch. Norway was a pretty weak puncher, but it still hurt slightly.

"You will never call me Norge again. Is that clear?" Norway muttered under his breath. It was a very prominent threat, but Denmark couldn't resist picking on him.

"Crystal!" He replied as he saluted. Norway glared at him then continued walking. "So, Norge, we should have a party in your dorm sometime, since you and Iceland are right next to us. How's that sound?"

"I said… don't… call me… Norge," Norway turned around and stomped on Denmark's foot. Denmark yelped and grabbed his foot, making sure it wasn't too hurt. "And I think parties are a waste of time, so we're never going to have one. As for you, I don't like you. You're loud, you annoy me, and you joke around too much!" Norway shouted as he quickened his pace away from Denmark.

"Maybe I'll have to work a lot harder than expected…" Denmark said under his breath. But there was this weird feeling he was experiencing. It felt like a strange form of sadness he had never witnessed before. Quickly ignoring this, Denmark continued to follow the people in his section and tried his best to learn how to march.

The Marching Field

Finland was practicing marching with his section, when he saw the tuba section just lying on the fence sleeping. All of them were sleeping, except for one. He was extremely tall, had blonde hair, and wore glasses. The strange this was… he looked lonely. 'He must be the freshman tuba,' Finland thought as he decided to walk over to this new person.

"Hi! I'm Finland. You can call me Tino, if you want. You just looked rather lonely, and I decided to talk to you." He looked up at Finland, gave him an intimidating gaze, and just sat like that. Finland had his hand out to shake with the new person, but quickly backed away, afraid of this gaze. After a few more moments like that, he turned around and went back to the flute section.

"D'n't le've…" The boy muttered as he saw Tino leaving. It wasn't often that people walked up to him and started talking, and he didn't want to miss out on a chance to have a friend. Unfortunately, Finland was already in line with his section, working on side step marching. The boy sighed, and went back to gazing into the distance.

Lunch Break

Denmark and Finland walked back to their dorm, separately from Norway and Iceland who had already left. Both of them looked rather depressed, but neither took up a conversation during the dreary walk. Once they got back into their dorm, they closed the door and Denmark decided to start talking. "Hey Tino… am I really too loud, annoying, and joke around too much?"

"I don't think so! Silence seems a bit too awkward. Talking is a lot better, and joking lightens up the mood quite frequently." He replied. "Did someone tell you this?"

Denmark paused, and then looked up at Finland. "Yeah… Norway got kinda mad at me for calling him a nickname, and blurted that out. It… hurt… I'm not sure how to explain this, but a new feeling engulfed me. Something I had no idea existed, and I don't know what to call it."

"Maybe thinking about it more might help you figure out what it is?" Finland suggested.

"Maybe," Denmark spaced out for a bit, but came back to reality and laid on his bed. "You seem down, too, Tino. What's up?"

"Hmmm… Well there was this guy with glasses who plays the tuba. He looked lonely to me, so I walked up to him and introduced myself. Instead of replying, he glared at me and wouldn't say anything. He just really intimidated me. I'm sorta scared to run into him again…" Finland explained.

"I've never heard of someone being so harsh! You were just trying to be friendly. I'll have to go teach him a lesson sometime," Denmark exclaimed. It seemed that he was back to his old self in no time at all. The two of them pulled out a sandwich from a convenient refrigerator placed in their room, and ate in silence. They both were pondering about their own problems, when the announcements interrupted them.

-"Band students, report back to the field within the next fifteen minutes"-

"I guess that's our cue," Denmark sighed. He wasn't ready to see Norway again. Not now. And definitely not with the terrible mood he was in currently. As they walked out, the door to the dorm next to them opened. Out walked a very tall boy with glasses and blonde hair. He wasn't necessarily thin; it was more like he was built with muscle.

"Th-that's him! He's the intimidating guy!" Finland whispered to Denmark as he hid behind him. The boy turned and looked at them, peering around Denmark.

"H'llo T'no. I'm s'rry 'bout ear'er… Th' s'n w's in meh eyes. Y'u w're talkin' t' me, w'ren't ya?" His voice was extremely deep, but rather soothing to Finland.

"Oh! The sun? Y-yes, I was talking to you, but I can understand if you couldn't see that. I'm sorry… would you like to walk with us?" Finland asked.

"All r'ght," He muttered. "The n'me is B'rwald, by t'h w'y. Or… Sw'den."

"B-berwald? That has a nice ring to it," Tino replied. He was still nervous about the way Sweden was. He loomed over even Denmark, who was already tall in the first place. Not to mention that just looking at Sweden was scary. He always looked angry, now that Finland noticed. But his personality seemed nice. 'Maybe he's not too bad.' He thought.

"I'm Denmark! Nice to meet you, Berwald!" Denmark practically shouted at Sweden. He could never quite control his voice, especially in the halls of the school.

Berwald extended his hand and shook Denmark's. He nodded in reply, but didn't say anything else.

Soon, the group was outside in the field. They all went to their own sections, and continued working on marching and the basics of each of their horn moves. Slowly, the sun set, and day one of band camp had ended. Finland and Denmark joined together right afterwards, to walk back to their dorm. Sweden followed them, not having anyone else to hang around with.

Denmark walked into the dorm and fell onto his bed in exhaustion. It had been one long day, physically and emotionally. He set his alarm to get up in time for tomorrow, and slowly drifted. Right before he fell asleep, he thought, 'I wonder how Norge's doing right now…'


	3. Norway's Past

The second day of band camp went by pretty uneventful. At least, Denmark thought so. He tried numerous times to talk to Norway, and nothing was working. 'Maybe I really am that annoying…' He thought as he was walking to the band room for dinner break. Iceland walked up to him from the back of the band, holding his trombone.

"D-Denmark. Can I talk to you?" He asked, walking next to Denmark. He looked a bit worried, so Denmark figured it was important.

"Yeah, sure. What's up?" He replied.

"Well… there's a reason why Norway and I have been sticking to ourselves lately. It's also incorporated to the reason why we're at a private guy's school and not a public school," he explained.

"Oh? What is it?" Denmark was curious now.

"I can't tell you now, but please just keep that in mind. I trust you, but it might take more time for Norway to trust you. For now, I'll continue talking to him about it. But I would really like to join your group of friends. Please be patient," Iceland continued.

"Okay. I'd be really happy to call you and Norway my friends!" Denmark grinned. But then a concerned expression escaped his ecstatic mask. "I'm concerned, though. Thanks for telling me this."

"Not a problem," he said with a small smile. Then Norway walked up to the two, grabbed onto Iceland and pulled him away quite quickly. He was scowling at Denmark.

"What were you doing talking to him?" Norway hissed through his teeth. It wasn't often that Norway was happy these days.

"Unlike you, I actually want to be friends with Denmark. He's a nice guy, and just wants to talk to us," Iceland grumbled. His shy exterior had disappeared, and he was able to be his true self when around Norway.

"But you know why I don't! People like him just turn out to be the biggest assholes, and pretend to be nice to hurt people like us," Norway practically yelled at Iceland. It was a good thing Denmark was far behind them at this moment. Iceland glared back at Norway and punched him in the gut.

"I consider Denmark a friend. I haven't had many conversations with him, but I can tell he's genuinely nice. Don't you dare consider even calling him an asshole! And 'he' wasn't trying to hurt you. He was trying to help you. Try to remember that," Iceland shouted at Norway. He walked away from Norway, and wouldn't say another word.

"Don't go! I'm sorry, okay?" Norway called out. This was the first time he had ever felt completely alone in his entire life. Iceland didn't even turn around, and Norway realized he would have to change if he wanted to have the support of his brother back. But Norway knew he wouldn't be able to get over the incident that occurred last year that quickly.

xxxx

Denmark caught up to Sweden and Finland fairly quickly. It's not too difficult to catch someone carrying a tuba around; especially when they're fairly lazy, like Sweden. "Where were you?" Finland asked.

"Talkin' to Iceland, for the most part," He replied, not showing any emotion.

"For the most part…?" He pushed further. There was an obvious look of concern on his face, because it wasn't normal for Denmark to go around talking to Iceland. It was expected that he'd want to talk to Norway, but not Iceland. Not the shy one.

"He just wanted to tell me some things about Norway, that's all," Denmark looked away. "I… I'll explain later. I just can't right now. At least, not until I figure out more."

"All right, Denmark. I'll trust you on that," Tino answered. He looked up at Denmark, due to their rather large difference in height. "So where do you guys want to eat today?"

"H'w 'bout the f'st f'od pl'ce 'cross the str'et?" Sweden suggested.

"What was the name of it? Mos Burger?" Denmark asked. Finland nodded. "But we'd need to hurry to get there. I hope we're allowed to…" The three of them headed in the direction of the restaurant, but stopped. They heard someone calling Denmark's name from the distance.

"Denmark! Denmark! Wait up!" The voice was shouting. Tino was the first to notice, and as he turned around he noticed it was Iceland.

"Iceland? What're you doing here? Where's Norway?" Tino questioned.

"I don't even want to talk about Norway. He's being really stupid right now. But I wanted to catch up with you guys and go wherever you were eating. You don't mind, right?" He replied.

"Of course we don't!" Denmark announced, without even talking to Tino or Berwald about it. "But I do have one problem that needs to be fixed." Iceland looked at him in confusion. Denmark laughed. "It's not a bad thing! I just hate calling you Iceland all the time. You need a nickname…" He pondered. "Aisu!"

"Aisu?" Iceland clarified.

"Yes, Aisu. I think it sounds cool. From now on, you're Aisu to me," He smiled. At least Iceland was awesome enough to join their newly formed group of friends. 'Norway's next…' Denmark thought. 'But… why am I always thinking about him? I guess I just really want to be his friend, or something.' The group walked to Mos Burger and made it back to the field just in time. None of them had heard anything from Norway, and he wasn't back at the field for the last part of band camp that day.

xxxx

As Iceland was walking away, Norway looked around. Everyone else was in their own groups of friends already, and he really was alone. There wasn't a good place to hang out by himself without something being weird, or going into someone else's claimed eating spot. Norway walked back to his dorm. 'How could Iceland do that? I'm trying my best to be able to trust people again, but it's really difficult. I don't understand how he got over it that easily. Especially with the way Denmark is. Doesn't that strike similarity a little too much to their old friend?' He sat there on his bed, recalling the events of what happened not too long ago.

Norway had gone to a public school with both guys and girls previously to the private school. Therefore, the subject of dating and romance was quite a motif. But it had to be a secretive thing. The school had outlawed dating because they feared it would interrupt with learning. People dated anyways, but it was greatly hidden.

_Norway was walking through the halls of the school after hours, when his friend walked up to him. "Hey Norway! I heard that you like a girl. Who is it?" His friend interrogated. He was always a loud mouth, and it didn't help that the girl Norway liked was walking by them at that moment. _

"_Shut up," He replied in his normal manner, not showing any expression, while shoving his friend's head into the nearest locker. "I never said I liked anyone. And remember? Saying stuff like that will get me into trouble really quickly."_

"_Oh… right. I forgot about that. So it's her, right?" He asked pointing at the girl who had just walked past them. "I see you watching her from the distance a lot. You should talk to her." The girl turned around, wide-eyed. _

"_You like me, Norway?" She asked. Norway couldn't tell whether she was happy about this or not, but he turned away blushing and furious at his friend. _

"_I-I might. What does it matter, anyways?" He mumbled._

"_Because… I've liked you for a while, too…" She replied, blushing. Norway's eyes went wide and he turned to look at her. This was the first person he'd ever liked, and normally those ended as unrequited love for most people. She walked up to Norway and slowly made her way to his hand. They held hands for a little while, but Norway didn't think this was a good idea._

"_Teachers could still yell at us, you know," He pointed out. For some reason, even though he was holding hands with the girl he liked, it just didn't feel right. It didn't feel right to be taller than someone. It didn't feel right at all. 'What am I thinking?' He scolded himself and shook his head. The whole thing seemed rushed, anyways. _

"_What's wrong?" She questioned, looking at him in a concerned manner. _

"_It's nothing…" He said as a teacher walked out of the lounge, stopping right in front of the two holding hands._

"_What do you think you're doing? Norway! I thought you wouldn't be pushed into such irrational decisions." The teacher yelled at them. This got Norway. He was always the perfect student, and this was his favorite teacher. This couldn't be happening. "Detention for both of you. Of course, on separate days." He walked off leaving the two and Norway's friend standing in the hallway. _

"_I'm really sorry, Norway…" The girl tried to apologize, but this completely devastated Norway. _

"_It's… fine…" He replied as he ran off. He needed to go somewhere else. Not here anymore. And especially not a place with girls. This was why he never said anything to the girl. This was why he was going to leave this place and start new. But first, Norway had to talk to Iceland. He walked back to their house, which took him less then 3 minutes, and walked into Iceland's room._

"_Iceland," He called out. Iceland turned around, up for another conversation with Norway._

"_What's up, Norway?" Iceland asked._

"_He did it. He told her," Norway replied. He didn't have to explain anything. Iceland knew exactly who 'he' and 'her' were. The two brothers got along so well, no one could compete with their friendship. Due to this closeness, anything that hurt Norway, took even more effect on Iceland. _

"_And did it go well? Are you dating her now?" He questioned, excited to know that Norway might actually be dating someone. It was pretty obvious that his crush liked him back, so pretty much everyone was expecting it to happen, sometime. _

"_That's the problem. I have detention because we were holding hands. And it's all HIS fault. He did this. I won't ever forgive him," Norway spat out. School, and the reputation he had in his teacher's eyes meant everything to him. He had never had detention before. _

"_Come on, Norway, it can't be that bad. I'll go with you, if you want," Iceland shrugged it off, hoping that maybe Norway would get over it; knowing that he wouldn't. But it was worth a try. _

"_Let's go. Let's go to a private school where girls aren't even allowed to go. It's the end of the year, anyways," he suggested. Norway was holding in a lot of anger. _

"_Okay, if that's what you want to do," Iceland agreed. He did pretty much anything Norway wanted to do. But that's what little brothers are for, right?_

Norway sat in his dorm, recalling that horrible day. Denmark had a very similar personality to his old friend from last year, and Norway just couldn't trust him. He didn't want anything like that to happen again, even though he gave up being the perfect student. It would still upset him. "Why can't I trust him? I want Iceland back. And I do want to join their group of friends…" Norway sighed. "It's just that Denmark… resembles him way too much."

He sat like this for hours. 'Will he come back?' Norway thought. Maybe he'd go to Denmark's dorm, even though only two people are allowed in one room. It's not too difficult to sneak around here. Just as he was thinking this, the door creaked open.

"Hey Norway?" The voice asked.

"Iceland? What is it? I thought you were going to go to Denmark's dorm…" He muttered.

"I wasn't really going to leave you. I just needed time away to think. But yes, I did hang out with Denmark, Finland, and Sweden. I'm sorry for leaving you…" Iceland apologized.

"No… I should be the one to apologize. I'll try trusting Denmark. He really is a cool guy, it just might be a bit difficult for me," Norway explained.

"I thought you'd say that," Iceland grinned. "Tomorrow, we're going to hang out with them, every single second possible. That okay with you?"

"I guess so…" He replied, looking out the window. 'Tomorrow should be interesting…'

AN: Hello everybody! Sorry for not saying anything earlier, but I felt like putting up the first two chapters as quickly as I could. Also sorry about the change in personalities with Norway. He'll get back to his normal self later on, I just figured adding this problem might make the story more interesting. Yes, this has both DenNor and SuFin. But unlike a lot of Nordic fanfics, I want this one to be long. Anyways, enjoy!


	4. A Secret Magician

The sunlight began seeping through the shades in Sweden's room. He was one of the few lucky people who had their own dorm. At least, his own dorm until school actually started. Most of the students weren't at the academy yet. The only ones who were there was because of band camp or sports. Once school actually started, Sweden might not have his own room. But he didn't mind. He started to wake up, when the announcements came on.

-"Report time for band camp will be delayed two hours today due to weather"-

'Th't's n'ce… I c'n sle'p m're,' He thought as he drifted off to sleep.

"To the ready!" The drum major shouted at the band. Due to thunderstorms, band camp had been delayed, but quickly started up at ten in the morning. They were in the first set of the last song, in resting position, waiting for the command. It happened to be that Denmark and Norway were standing next to each other during this set.

"Hey… Norway," Denmark whispered a bit too loudly for it to really be considered a whisper.

Norway sighed, then looked over at Denmark. He had to give him a chance. It just wouldn't be fair if he didn't. "Yeah?" He whispered back. At least Norway could actually whisper.

"I want to apologize… for being annoying. And loud," He hesitated. "And for calling you Norge. I'll only call you Norway, if you want me to."

He sulked at the mentioning of the nickname Norge. The way it became his nickname was, unfortunately, a memory he'd never forget. Maybe he shouldn't punch people in the face anymore. Then they wouldn't come up with stupid names on accident. "I never said… that I didn't want you to call me Norge. I just said I didn't like it."

Denmark grinned from ear to ear. Norway had talked to him, and it wasn't actually that bad of a comment. "You got it, Norge!"

"Now stop talking to me. We're supposed to be to the ready. Not talking." Norway turned and faced towards the drum major. There were advantages to not being in the very front of the band.

The day went on, and Norway and Denmark kept talking about pointless things, nothing really important to either of them. But it made Denmark happy. Currently, he was standing a fair distant from Norway, but he couldn't stop thinking about him. 'I wonder how he's doing… Is he tired, too? I hope he doesn't get sun burnt…' They just kept running through his head. 'Why… why am I thinking about you so much? Why do I want to be your friend? Why do I want to hug you… even though I don't even like hugs.' He continued to ponder, looking over at Norway constantly. Norway turned to the side, talking to someone and even smiling. 'He looks so cute when he actually smiles…' Denmark sat there for a bit.

"Wha-What the hell?" He shouted out loud. A lot of people turned to look at him, and he just blushed. "My bad… that wasn't supposed to be out loud." He glanced over at Norway again. Apparently he didn't hear it, because he continued to look at whoever he was talking to. 'Do I… like him?' Denmark asked himself, in complete disbelief. 'I mean… I thought I was straight… but I guess stuff like this happens. So I'll just accept it. Wait. No. There's no way I like him. I can't. Everything will be so messed up if I did. I'll just end up finding a really hot girl and liking her instead. Yeah. I don't like Norway.' He kept arguing to himself. Then the drum majors went over to the low brass and worked on their formation, calling a sitting break for the trumpets. Norway walked over.

"I've gotten the impression that you want to be friends. And I really want to… uhh… I mean... I kind of want to join your group of friends." Norway told Denmark as he walked over. Denmark gave a shocked look at what he just told him. Quickly, Norway interjected with "But… it's just because Iceland thinks you guys are awesome. That's all."

Denmark looked slightly hurt, but quickly brightened up. "Norge, I knew you'd come to your senses!" Inside, he was absolutely freaking out. 'There's no way he'd like me. Especially since he just wants to join of group of friends because of his brother, Iceland. That's the only reason.' He continued to talk to Norway. 'Wait. I. Don't. Like. Him.'

"You look stupid at this moment. Are you okay?" Norway said as-a-matter-of-factly. He wasn't too kind when it came to the truth. He always just said it.

"Hunh? Yeah I'm fine. I'm just… tired," Denmark replied. Just then, the band director announced lunch break. Everyone began making their way back to the band room, and Norway quickly walked away to Iceland. 'There goes my chance to talk to him more…' Soon afterwards, Finland and Sweden caught up to Denmark.

"Hey, Denmark. Where do you want to eat?" Finland asked.

"Uhhh…." He continued watching Norway as he was walking away, completely forgetting to answer the question in the first place.

"D'nmark?" Sweden tried to get his attention, but finally decided to just walk right in front of him. "Wh't w're ya l'oking at?"

Denmark snapped out of it. "N-nothing. I'm just tired, that's all. We should… follow Norge and Aisu and see where they're eating. Norway said he wanted to join our group, so we might as well ask."

"Yeah, that's a great idea!" Finland replied. He ran to catch up to Norway and Iceland. "Hey! Norway! Iceland!" They turned around and waited for him to get to where they were. "Where are you guys going to eat? We decided we'd join you…"

"W-we were going to eat out… in the lobby… B-but you guys can join us if you want," Iceland replied, his shy exterior was back after his anger outbreak the day before.

"Sure, that's fine. Too bad it's not air conditioned, though…" Denmark answered.

"Well…. We could always eat across the street again," Tino suggested. With that, the newly formed grouped headed out of school. Not too much discussion had occurred, other than Denmark trying to break the silence. It would take a while for the group to be less awkward.

"Hey Denmark, what're you doing?" Tino asked as he was shoving a burger into his mouth. They were all really hungry from working so hard in band camp.

"Uhhhh… just thinking," He replied. Denmark had been spacing out again, pondering about what he should do with his situation of liking Norway.

"Wh't ya th'nkin' 'bout?" Berwald questioned Denmark.

'I can't tell them the truth yet… but maybe I can impress Norway. What am I good at?' Denmark looked at the pack of cards sitting in the middle of the table. Iceland had brought them there in case the group became bored. "Only about my latest card trick!" He grinned. "Wanna see it?"

"You're tell me that you can actually perform a card trick?" Norway retorted, crossing his arms in disbelief.

"Yes, in fact I can. I'll prove it to you. But first, let me show you my trick shuffles!" He exclaimed as he picked up the pack of cards. "Firstly, the Air Shuffle." Denmark shuffled the cards in the air, not even touching the table.

"And this is supposed to impress us?" Norway continued. He had a very bored expression lingering on his face.

"Nope. That's just my warm-up. How about… the Behind the Back Shuffle." Denmark put his hands behind his back and shuffled without even looking. Norway gained interest at this point. "Behind the Head Shuffle," He did the same exact thing, except behind his back. "And lastly… the one that seems to impress people the most, Under the Leg Shuffle." Denmark stood up on one leg and lifted his other. Then, putting his hands under his leg and stretching out, he shuffled.

Tino whistled. "Now that takes some serious skill."

"You sh'uld p'rform that f'r t'h t'lent sh'w…" Berwald suggested.

"Y-yeah, that was great, Denmark!" Iceland exclaimed. "What'd you think about that, Norway?"

"Hmph. Nothing too impressive," He replied nonchalantly.

"Well at least give me a chance to show you the trick," Denmark said.

Norway looked at him, scowling. "Fine. But don't be surprised if I already know how it works."

Denmark grinned as he gripped the deck in anticipation. 'I hope I don't mess this up.' He started flipping cards, face up, on the table. Sweden and Iceland had looked away, apparently not interested and started their own conversation. Denmark looked at the third card that was placed down inconspicuously. 'Five of hearts,' He said to himself. "Okay, tell me when you want me to stop."

"Stop," Norway replied after the 27th card. Denmark put the cards into a pile, not changing their positions. Then he let the bottom third of the pile sit on the table, went to the left of that and created a second pile, and placed the third pile in the middle of the two.

He took the top two cards off the middle pile, and put each of them on either the right or left pile. "Pick up this card," Denmark said while pointing to the top card on the middle pile. "And look at it. You can show Finland, but make sure I don't see it. Also, remember the card."

Norway showed Finland. He nodded. "We got it."

"Now I'm going to put these cards together into one deck again and shuffle. If you wish to, you can shuffle them." He offered the deck to Norway, but Norway shook his head.

"I figure that if you're offering it, then shuffling it wouldn't do anything to stop the trick from working," He replied.

Denmark grinned. 'He's really smart… And that look he gave me was just amazing.' He sighed, then started flipping over the cards again, this time not saying anything, and made sure every single card could be seen. After a while, the five of hearts showed up, but he continued flipping over cards. When he got close to the bottom of the deck, Denmark said "The next card I will flip over will be your card. Would you like to bet and say it isn't? I have a dollar." Everyone shook their heads. "You guys are boring…" He laughed. Then, looking at the five of hearts already down, Denmark flipped it over, face down. "The five of hearts. Was that the card?"

Norway looked completely shocked. "Yes… that was the card. How did you do that?"

"Ahhh… but a magician never tells his secret," Denmark teased. If Norway hadn't figured it out, then it must've been a good trick after all.

"Please, Denmark?" Tino pleaded.

"Awww… you guys make me feel guilty. Fine. I knew your card before you did. When I first was flipping over the cards, I looked at the third one. That happened to be the five of hearts. Then I continued to flip over the cards until you told me to stop. The way I placed the three decks was crucial," Denmark revealed. He showed them this in demonstration, and had already put the cards back into a single deck. "Make sure the top cards show up in the middle deck. Then, put the top two cards on the left and right piles. That will make the card that you pick up to be the third card I flipped over in the first place. After that, you know how it goes."

"I have to admit… that's good even for you, Danmark," Norway complimented.

"Norge… you called me Danmark? What's that all about?" He asked, surprised.

"I figure, if you call me Norge, I have to have a nickname for you that's equally as annoying."

Denmark smirked. Norge gave him a nickname. "Then, I shall answer to that new name."

The rest of the day went by without too many events. Once in a while, Denmark and Norway would talk to each other about little things.

"All right, everyone. It's time for the third day of band camp to end. Great job! We're making quite the headway on our field show. Be sure to get a lot of rest tonight," The band director announced at the end of the day. Denmark and Norway walked towards the rest of their group together, not saying too much due to their tiredness. Tino was walking with Berwald, and Finland wasn't too far behind them, trying to catch up.

"Hey guys. Party at my place after the last day of band camp. You up for that?" Denmark announced.

"You know, your place is also Tino's place. Did you even talk to him about this yet?" Norway scolded him.

"Nope, I haven't. Are you fine with it, Tino?" He asked.

"There isn't any better way to end our first year of band camp," Finland answered, sincerely smiling.

"All right, then it's on! We'll buy stuff tomorrow," Denmark said as he opened the door to his dorm. He ran in with as much energy as he could gather for the short amount of time, jumped on his bed, and instantly went to sleep. Tino followed him in, and with turning out the lights, called it a night.

AN: All right, sorry for this taking forever. I kinda ran into a writer's block. Not that I don't have the whole story planned out… I just didn't know how to get from point A to point B. But here it is. Yes, that's a completely real card trick, and it does impress people. ;) But I haven't made money off of it yet… Anyways, I'll be going on vacation for a bit. Don't worry, though. Once I get back I'll have chapter 5 done and up.


	5. Slight Confusion

Norway woke up, extremely drowsy from the previous day. He sighed as he sat up, and rose to wake Iceland up. Iceland was so small curled up in a ball as she slept. He was a year younger than the freshmen, but due to his intelligence, Iceland was moved up to Norway's grade.

"Hey, Iceland. Wake up! I want to show you something," Norway told him as he gently shook Iceland awake.

"Ugh… what is it Norway? I still have fifteen minutes…" He replied, squinting at the sunlight. Norway picked up a deck of cards and shuffled them at a table in front of Iceland. "You want to show me a card trick? Is that what you're doing?"

"Yes. Denmark showed it to Tino and I while you were talking to Berwald," Norway stated. He went through the whole trick and completely impressed Iceland, performing the trick flawlessly.

"How? That's insane! Teach it to me!" Iceland exclaimed.

"Well that's something you'll have to ask Danmark," Norway replied.

Iceland immediately chuckled at that statement. "So now you have a nickname for Denmark? How absolutely delightful. What's next? You gonna confess your love to him?" He smirked.

"Shut up. I don't like him. You know I'm straight. And he just likes to talk to me. That's all," Norway retorted. He crossed his arms and scowled.

"I think he likes you. And you know…" Iceland stood to Norway's side, with his face right next to his. "High school is the time for experimenting." He looked at Norway and grinned.

"Why can't you always be shy? That'd save me a lot of time from your constant nagging about everything," Norway argued as he shoved Iceland's face away. Iceland burst out laughing and walked away to get ready.

"Oh come on…. You know I'd be really boring if I was always shy," He replied as he walked into the bathroom.

Norway sighed. "Quite unfortunately, you're correct."

Denmark and Finland were just entering the band room when Iceland ran up to them. "Hey Aisu! What's up?"

"Your magic trick is awesome! N-Norway showed it to me this morning. He was all excited about it," Iceland explained. Denmark's eyes widened a bit and he just stared at Iceland for a short amount of time. "What is it?"

"Oh… uhhh…. I'm glad you liked my trick! I continue to try my best to entertain people," Denmark grinned. "By the way… where's Norway?

Iceland chuckled. "He's getting his trumpet case."

"Ah, okay. Thanks!" Denmark shouted as he sprinted over to the band cubbies and looked for Norway. As he walked up to Norway, who was bent over looking into the cubby, Denmark called out to him. "Hey Norge!"

Norway jumped as he rose out of the cubby, hitting his head on the top. "Ouch! Give me a bit more warning next time you do that, will you?"

"Sorry Norge… Hey Aisu told me that you showed him my card trick," He started. Norway looked up at him.

"Well I have to admit… it was pretty impressive. So I just decided to show it to him." Norway replied taking out his trumpet.

"Then I thank you for publicizing it more! It makes me happy to know that people actually enjoy it," Denmark told him. He was grinning and standing in front of Norway's cubby.

"No problem," Norway laughed and looked at Denmark weirdly for as second. "Uhh… do you like me?"

"N-no. Of course not! You're my friend but nothing more," Denmark quickly answered. This had caught him by surprise and he knew that saying yes wouldn't be a good idea. "Why're you asking?"

"Iceland said that we seemed like a good pair and thought we should date. But I'm straight so it'd never end up happening. Especially since you aren't interested, either," Norway sighed in relief. "I told him he was insane."

"Ah… you're straight…" Denmark mumbled to himself.

Norway looked over at him. "What'd you say?"

"Nothing! Nothing at all. Just talking to myself. Well, brothers will always make assumptions, right?" Denmark gave a half-hearted smile. "I think we should head out to the field now."

"Yeah good idea." Norway took the lead and headed up the stairs as Denmark just stood there looking at his feet, a look of sadness creeping up his face. "You coming?" Norway shouted as he turned back, looking at Denmark.

"Y-yeah! I am. Sorry," He answered as he followed Norway out to the field.

"Gyaahhhh….." Denmark exhaled as he took a step forward but just fell into the band field face first. It was finally the end of the fourth day of band camp for them.

"You should get up. It's going to be really dark out soon," Norway suggested as he looked down at Denmark.

Denmark looked up and grinned. "Well why don't you join me, Norge?"

Norway sighed and sat cross-legged on the ground while Denmark was still sprawled out in relaxation. "I suppose I can sit here until everyone else shows up…." He looked up at the sky and sat in silence.

Denmark looked over at Norway and his expression quickly softened. "Do you like astronomy?"

"Not really," He answered, still looking at the stars. Denmark turned away from Norway and looked up at the sky. They stayed there in silence until Iceland, Finland, and Sweden walked over. Iceland dropped to his knees and crawled next to Norway in exhaustion. Finland giggled and flopped down near Denmark as Sweden kneeled next to Finland.

"We should all sleep here tonight," Tino laughed.

"I wish! But we'd get yelled at… wouldn't we?" Iceland pointed out.

"Of course we would. Let's head back now," Norway announced as he got up and headed to the door to the stairs.

"Awww… Norge! Come back!" Denmark whined.

"No," Norway replied, with the usual stone-faced expression on. "Come on, Iceland."

Iceland sighed and got up. "Aisu! Whaddya doin'?" Denmark exclaimed. But Iceland reluctantly followed Norway and they left the three others there. After a while of sitting there, Finland spoke up.

"We should probably head back, too. But I want to stay…." He told Berwald and Denmark.

"S' d' I…." Berwald said. He looked over at Tino who was staring at him. He turned and blushed, hoping Tino didn't see that. 'But it's dark out…. Of course he wouldn't see!'

"Berwald… are you okay?" Tino asked, with a look of concern on his face.

"Y-y's I'm f'ne. J'st…. t'red," Berwald answered, looking over and hoping Tino would buy that pathetic excuse.

"Ah…. Okay," he said, not sure whether to drop it or not. But just then, a weird breathing sound surfaced in the silence. "B-Berwald?"

"Y'ah?"

"What is that?" Tino questioned, slightly scared.

Berwald chuckled in his low and deep voice. "D'nmark. He's sn'ring…"

Tino began to laugh and tried to wake Denmark up. "I should've known! I mean I hear him snore every night…" Then fed up with Denmark's heavy sleeping, Tino sat on top of him. "Wake up!"

"What the hell? I was fuckin' sleeping for your information," Denmark spat as he stretched and stood up.

"Denmark, we need to go back to our dorm," Tino replied, patiently.

"What. The. Fuck. I. Am. SLEEPING." Denmark roared. He shoved Tino away. Berwald quickly ran up and punched Denmark in the jaw. "Yowtch!"

"Are y'u b'tter n'w?" Berwald asked.

"What happened?" Denmark questioned them, rubbing his jaw which was still in quite a deal of pain. Berwald could definitely pack a punch. He looked at both of the others, who appeared to be in quite a lot of shock.

"Uhhh… let's just head back to our dorms, okay Denmark?" Tino suggested.

"Okaaaayy," He gave in and the three of staggered back to their dorms.

AN: How'd you like the Denmark-Gets-Angry-When-Half-Asleep? XD It'll be explained a bit more in the next chapter. And I apologize for taking forever to post this. Hopefully the next one will be up in a couple of days. And band camp will be concluded! School starts either in the next chapter, or the one after that.


	6. Author's Note Apology

AN: I just noticed that any of my dividing lines I used didn't actually show up when I uploaded any of these chapters. OTL I deeply apologize for that, because I can imagine it'd be pretty confusing without the dividers. Therefore, for any other chapters, I'll use different methods to separate time periods.


	7. A Little Bit of Partying

"Band camp is freakin' over! Let's party!" Denmark yelled as he jumped up and down in excitement. Norway grabbed him by the collar and pulled Denmark towards the director of the stairs. It was official. Band camp had just ended and everyone had a day before the rest of the school arrived to settle in.

"Shut up!" Norway hissed at Denmark as he was tugging him along. "They're not supposed to know we're planning a party. It's against school rules, and your loud voice can probably be heard by the teachers."

"Okay, okay," Denmark replied. Then grinning, he whispered in Norway's ear "It's gonna be a hell of a party." Norway smacked him in the heade and let go of Denmark's collar. Iceland walked up and nudged Norway, without Denmark noticing. Norway scowled and looked to the side. Sweden and Finland walked over, laughing, and followed the group along.

"Party all night!" Denmark announced to the rest of the group in his dorm room. He had a beer in his right hand and was staggering around, clearly drunk.

"You obviously like to party too much," Norway told him, sitting in the couch with his arms crossed.

Denmark made his way over to Norway and leaned in really closely to Norway's face. "Come on, Norge… join the fun." He sheepishly grinned, then backed away from Norway and swigged another gulp of beer up.

"Firstly, I want to let you know that alcohol on school grounds is clearly prohibited. Secondly, I want to know why Tino has allowed this. Thirdly, I want to tell you that your breath reeks of alcohol. It's rather disgusting." Norway scolded Denmark. He looked over at Finland in question about his second point.

"I didn't know he had beer in his mini-fridge…" Tino muttered, embarrassed.

It seemed to be that Denmark was the only one enjoying this party. Norway was sitting on one side of the couch, Iceland on the other. Sweden and Finland were sitting on separate beds, talking to each other but not in their happy manner they usually do. To break the silence, however, music was playing moderately loud.

"Is my breath really that bad?" Denmark asked, grinning. He headed back over to Norway and put an arm around him, sitting between the two brothers on the couch. It was a rather tight fit. "Did anyone tell you how… absolutely beautiful you are?"

Norway's eyes quickly widened in shock. "So you do like me?"

Denmark went out into a fit of drunk laughter and answered, "Nahhh…. But I couldn't resist telling you that you're pretty incredible looking."

He relaxed at that statement but still continued to question, "Does that mean you're gay?"

Again, Denmark laughed for a while. "I'm a little thing called bisexual, ever heard of it?"

"Ahhh… okay. Well thank you for the compliment, I guess," Norway thanked him. Suddenly, he noticed something strange. "Wait… Danmark. You aren't slurring your words, are you?"

"Nope."

"Then you're not really drunk?"

Nope," Denmark said, emphasizing the 'p' in 'nope'.

"Then… why are you pretending?"

"It's fun to be absolutely wild and have a fall back reason," Denmark told Norway. "I have a really high tolerance to alcohol; it just relaxes me to be honest. My middle school life was pretty crazy compared to now…" He looked around to make sure no one was paying attention. Sweden and Finland were still talking, but in a happier way this time. Iceland was asleep, lightly snoring.

"Danmark… Can you do me a favor…?" Norway asked, a concerned look creeping onto his face.

"What is it, Norge?" Denmark questioned.

"Don't drink any beer anymore… please… it's bad for your health," he answered, but getting quieter and quieter throughout his sentence.

"I… okay… I'll stop drinking for you, and only you. Not for myself, cause I could care less what happened to me," Denmark replied, his expression softening and a new twinkle in his eye appearing. 'Norge… actually cares about me! He must be tired…'

"Thank you, Danmark…" Norway trailed off. His eyes closed and his head dropped.

"Norge…." Denmark sighed under his breath. He looked at Norway longingly but quickly shook himself out of it. Putting an arm behind his back, and another under his thighs, Denmark picked up Norway, his muscles bulging from under his t-shirt.

"Denmark, what're you doing?" Tino asked, noticing Denmark walking out of the dorm carrying Norway.

"Putting Norge to sleep," he answered, already across the hall. Opening the door with his elbows, Denmark walked into the brothers' dorm and placed Norway under the covers of his bed. Pulling up the covers, Denmark leaned in and kissed Norway on the forehead. "Norge… you do not realize how much I like you…' With that, he walked into his own dorm. "Aisu! Want me to carry you, too?" He grinned.

"Uhhh… no thank you," Iceland replied, smirking. "I'll head back, too. Night everyone!"

"Night!" Denmark and Tino replied in unison.

Berwald looked over at Tino and said, "I sh'uld g' t' sle'p. I'll s'e ya t'morrow, T'no." He smiled in a goofy way. "Same f'r y'u, D'nmark," he nodded. Denmark nodded back. Berwald then exited the dorm, and quietly closed the door.

"So… Denmark, what was with carrying Norway?" Tino asked, jokingly.

Denmark looked away and blushed. "We've all known each other for five maybe six days, right? Except for Norge and Aisu… but… things have changed drastically for me in those past days. I want to be a better person and I won't drink anymore."

"What does this have to do with Norway?"

"Only everything," Denmark replied as he walked over to his mini-fridge, opening it. There were rows upon rows of full beer bottles.

"Denmark! Why didn't you ever tell me about that?" Tino scolded, referring to the unnecessary amounts of alcohol stashed away Denmark picked up a garbage can and loaded as many beer bottles as he could into it, then left the dorm to dispose of it. He came back and kept refilling the garbage until he was done.

"There… it's all gone, Tino," He stated as he sat down on his bed. Tino was already asleep, however, so Denmark got up and turned out the lights, falling asleep himself.

Denmark groaned and looked at his alarm clock. It was already 12:30, so he must've slept really well. Opening his eyes even further to look at his surroundings, Denmark glanced over at Tino. To his surprise, Berwald was in their dorm and carrying on a conversation with Tino.

Noticing that Denmark was up, Tino announced, "Denmark's up! Good morning. Are you ready for another party today? I already went over and talked to Norway and Iceland. They'll be over at 1."

"Geez… you're really cheery already," Denmark growled as he turned away form them to get more sleep.

"D'nmark… y'u s're l'ke sl'ep, d'n't ya?" Berwald asked.

"Yeah…. It's very pleasant. If I don't get at least ten hours of sleep each day, I get really cranky."

"And when you're woken up in the middle of sleep, you're even crankier!" Tino laughed.

"Say what?" Denmark looked confused.

"You don't remember? Two nights ago you fell asleep in the field. I woke you up, but you got really angry and shoved me. Berwald punched you to bring you to your sense. Then you were better," Tino explained.

"Ahh… so you experienced my bad side, eh?" Tino and Berwald looked at each other in confusion. Denmark sighed. "Sometimes when people wake me up in the middle of the night, I get really angry and apparently swear a lot. Did I drop the f bomb occasionally?" Tino nodded. "Yeah… I've heard that happens. Usually I don't remember any of it; it's just what people have told me."

"W'll th't expl'ins a l't…" Berwald pondered.

"Yeah…. I apologize for that," Denmark answered sincerely.

"No problem! It was actually really funny," Tino told him. Berwald nodded.

"All right, well I'm going to sleep," Denmark added as he turned back away. Hearing Tino and Berwald talk was actually really soothing, and he almost instantly fell asleep.

Denmark woke up to being shaken form side to side quite violently by someone. Slitting his eyes open, Denmark recognized the shape of the person. "Norge!" He quickly woke up and threw his arms in the air.

"Don't get so excited," Norway interjected and hit Denmark in the head before he could do anything stupid.

"I have to show you something, Norge!" Denmark jumped out of bed and ran over to his mini-fridge. Opening it he yelled, "There's nothing in it!"

Norway's eyes widened for a second but he quickly went back to his stone-face. "I didn't think you'd get rid of it so quickly, Danmark."

"Oh, but I did!" He grinned. "And now we've got to party today, cause all the other guys will be at this school tomorrow!"

"You're still not dressed…" Norway pointed out.

Denmark looked down at what he was wearing and realized he was shirtless and only had red boxers on. They were also rather short, to add onto the embarrassment. Blushing slightly, he grabbed some clothing and ran into the bathroom to get ready for a day of alcohol-free partying.


	8. Wimpy Punches and Rock Climbing

It was Sunday, the day everyone was supposed to arrive to get ready for school. Berwald was secretly hoping he wouldn't get any roommates, but it was almost inevitable that he would. 'Maybe closing my door would keep anyone from coming in?' Berwald thought as he got up and closed his door with a slight slam, not looking to see that someone was standing outside the door beforehand.

"B-Berwald?" A cry from the hall could be heard even inside his room.

"T'no? C'me in! I'm s'rry…"

The door opened, and Tino walked in. Looking concerned, he sat next to Berwald on his bed. "Are you all right?"

"Y's, I'm f'ne. J'st didn't w'nt a r'ommate, ya kn'w?" He explained, hoping that the door didn't hit Tino or anything.

Tino looked down at the floor. "Ah, okay. As long as that slam wasn't meant for me," He smiled, knowing it wasn't.

"So why d'd ya w'nt to v'sit me, T'no?" Berwald asked, quite curious for his reasoning. It wasn't often that the young Fin would come into his room by himself.

"Well… Denmark's still sleeping, and I didn't want to bother Norway or Iceland. In case they were still sleeping, too. I saw your door was open, so I headed over," Tino answered, looking up at Berwald. There was something about him that instantly relaxed Tino whenever they were talking.

"So ya n'eded c'mpany?"

"Yes, and I still do." Tino smiled. "You know… if you happen to get a roommate and they're really bad, I bet Denmark would be fine if you stayed in our room."

"Ya m'an it?" Berwald asked, looking up at Tino. It was a really generous offer.

"Of course I do, Berwald!" He answered, laughing a bit. Looking up at Berwald, Tino smiled. They had known each other for a little less than a week, but it already seemed like he understood Berwald well. Apparently boarding school did that to people.

"Th'nks, T'no. Th't's r'ally n'ce of ya," Berwald answered. They sat there in silence for a while, enjoying the sound of the birds for a while.

…..

Norway sat up in his bed and looked over to Iceland. He was looking out the window, deep in thought. "Ice?"

Iceland looked over to Norway. "Hey, Norway?"

"Yes?"

"I-I want a puffing," he answered, looking out to the window again. It had been a long lost dream of his. To have a puffin, that is. There wasn't any specific reason, either.

"And I suppose… you'll go to every extreme to get one." Norway sighed. "Very well. We'll get you a puffin by the end of this month. I doubt our parents would mind." And they wouldn't. 'We're so rich… it puzzles me…' Norway thought. Their parents work across the sea as engineers. For some reason they always brought lots of present back and constantly replenished the bank accounts of Norway and Iceland.

Problem was, they were always overseas. The brothers almost always were taking care of themselves. Therefore it wasn't difficult to convince their parents to let them attend this boarding school.

Iceland fist pumped in the air and smiled. "I've always wanted a puffin…."

"I know you always have." There was a loud knock at the door, and Norway looked over. He wasn't in his day clothes yet, and neither was Iceland. Sighing, Norway got up and cracked open the door only to find the beaming face of his new acquaintance.

"Norge!" Denmark grinned as he pushed the door further open, apparently crushing the hand of the other.

"Damn it, Denmark, I'm bleeding!" He scowled, shaking his hand from side to side rather quickly. Denmark looked down in concern at Norway and quickly grasped his hand to examine the damage. Pulling his hand back briskly, Norway sulked. "It's not bad. I don't need your sympathy."

"But Norge-"

"Stop," Norway cut in, glancing at his hand, then looking up to Denmark. "Now what was it that you wanted?"

Denmark examined what Norway was wearing instead of replying. Rather short blue boxers and a white tank top. Laughing, he answered "Tino wasn't in our dorm, so I decided to visit you and Aisu." Pausing, he added, "And nice boxers."

"Says the one who's shirtless and wearing boxers that are way too short," Norway scoffed. "Anyways, what did you expect? I'm not a morning person, either. And Iceland… he can spend all day in pajamas, so he could care less."

"Well, let me in! I haven't seen your dorm in the day time before."

Norway shuffled to the side and let Denmark in. "There's not much to see…"

"Wooowwww… it's so neat!" Denmark exclaimed, glancing around. "Hey Aisu!"

"Hey, Denmark," Iceland replied. "G-guess what!"

"What?"

"I'm getting a puffin!" He announced, looking as excited as he ever looked…. Which wasn't really excited at all.

"But… I thought pets weren't allowed…." Denmark said, rather confused.

"They aren't. But how hard can it be to keep a secret?" Norway suggested. He wanted Iceland to be happy, and his old motto of following the rules was less influential these days.

"Awww… come on! I wanna have a pet… but that's cool. As long as I can visit your puffin, I won't tell," Denmark explains, crossing his arms to emphasize his deal.

"Yeah, you can come visit him," Iceland answered, nodding.

Denmark grinned. AT least he was good at showing his excitement. Looking over to Norway, he asked, "So how has your day been?"

Norway walked over to Denmark and hit him on the head, surprisingly wavering the tall figure. "Idiot. It's the morning. My day just started and so far it's been pretty dull because you showed up."

Rubbing his head, Denmark glanced up at Norway. "Norge… that…" He paused. Then as if having quickly recovered, he jumped up and pointed at Norway. "Norge! You hit like a girl!"

Glaring at the other, Norway hit him again. Especially hard. "How was that?"

Denmark doubled over, because this time the attack had landed at his stomach. "Shit…" He muttered under his breath. Norway could pack a punch. He hadn't realized that his cover would get him another punch. Nevertheless, he had to continue it. "Still weak."

"And that would be why you're currently cringing in pain, right?"

"You bet." Wincing from the two punches, Denmark pulled himself up and tried to conceal his pain. "Sooo… it's the last day before school starts. You two up for something fun?" Norway and Iceland looked at each other in question, and back up at Denmark. "I take that as a yes!"

….

"Please explain to met how you convinced me to even consider this…" Norway complained with his arms crossed. He, Iceland, and Denmark were walking away from the school as he spoke. It was Denmark's idea to go rock climbing, and the brothers were tagging along.

"You told me it was too dangerous and wouldn't let me go without supervision, remember? I wanted to go anyways, so you came along. And Iceland was interested in rock climbing, too…" Denmark explained.

"Ahh… he remembers. Norway just hates doing this kind of thing," Iceland told Denmark. He, unlike Norway, was looking forward to rock climbing. Hopefully it wasn't too dangerous, though.

"Here we are!" Denmark shouted as he stopped. Looming in front of him was a huge rock with many cracks and crevices. Not even pausing to marvel at how tall it was, Denmark grabbed a hold of the closest protruding hand hold, placing his feet on another section beneath. Scaling the rock to the top, he continued, going at a dangerously quick pace.

Looking away in fear, Norway shouted, "Be careful!" He was getting nervous for Denmark, who was definitely going to trip or fall. Shaking his head, Norway thought, 'No…. he's an idiot. He deserves what he gets.'

Iceland started up the rock, too, following the path Denmark took. "Wow, Denmark! You're fast!"

"Don't follow his path, Ice. He's taller than you and makes it look easy," Norway warned, watching the two of them climb. He kept wincing when someone slipped or tripped on something.

Denmark noticed Norway's cringing as he got up to the top and laughed. "Norge! You worry too much."

"I have every right to! You keep almost killing yourself there!" He answered back up at Denmark. There was a pretty good distance between the two.

Denmark turned around and looked at the other side, gasping. "Aisu! Hurry on up, the view is amazing!" Iceland wasn't too far form the top, and made his way there in a minute or two, enjoying the view at the peak. "Norge, come on! You gotta see this."

"I'm not climbing up there. It's too dangerous and I really don't feel like it," Norway replied, showing no form of interest.

"Damn it, Norge, do you really have to make me come down and get you?" Denmark cursed under his breath. "Aisu! I'll be back up. Stay here and enjoy the scenery." Iceland nodded back. Quickly making his way down the rocks, Denmark hopped off the last stretch of about five feet and landed right next to Norway. He abruptly pulled at Norway's jacket, bringing him right in front of the big rock.

"And what the hell do you think you're doing?" Norway challenged, ripping his jacket out of Denmark's grasp. "I'm not going up there, Danmark."

"And you sure as hell are going up there," Denmark grinned, playing off of Norway's words. He lifted Norway up and placed him on the first foot hold.

"Oh… all right. But just this once, okay?" Norway started climbing up carefully and checking to make sure every rock was safe.

"Okay!" He replied, following. They soon got to the top, But Norway was too short to find a way to the peak.

"Danmark… what do I do?"

"Here… let me climb up and I'll help you once I get there," Denmark answered, making his way around Norway. Once he was standing right above Norway, Denmark offered his hand to Norway.

Norway grabbed it, expecting to just have some support. Instead, Denmark yanked Norway up to the top, suddenly surprising him. 'Wow… he's strong!' Shaking his head, Norway mustered up anger. "What was that? I just wanted some support. Not… not be pulled up!"

"Norge… shhh…" Denmark suggested. Nodding over his shoulder, he indicated to Norway that he should go over to where Iceland was.

He walked over, and looked out. There were many more rocks beneath, but beyond there was the vast view of the ocean and sky. Waves were crashing on rocks, and the wind was blowing at a fairly good rate. Norway's eyes widened as he took in all of this.

"You like it?" Denmark asked, also looking out at the scene.

"Yeah…" Norway breathed. They all stood there for a while until it started becoming restless. "Danmark. We should head back."

Denmark nodded in agreement and the trio made their way back down to the ground. "Well… that was enough work for me in one day."

Norway grunted in his attempt to answer. "How'd you find this place?"

"Ahhh…. As I first arrived at school, I noticed the rock and thought it'd be cool to climb. I didn't expect it to have such a nice view…"

Iceland chuckled. "You sure have an eye for these things, then."

Scratching his head, Denmark replied, "I guess…". The three entered the school and had made their way to their dorms. Just as Denmark opened the door to his, Tino flew out of it.

"Denmark, Denmark! I can't find Berwald!" He yelled, eyes wide in conern.

"Great…. This outta be interesting…." Denmark sighed.


	9. Who Doesn't Own a Cell Phone?

**AN:** (This is kinda long, so skip it, if you wish) I'd like to apologize about taking a really long hiatus. For those who have this on alert, I thank you for being patient about it taking a year or two. I've had more of this written at the time I posted the last chapter, but I didn't have enough written for me to consider it having sufficient length. So that's what this chapter is. It'll stop rather abruptly, but I promise I'll keep writing it. Just wanted to get this posted so that people wouldn't think this story was dead. My writing style may or may not be different in the next chapter due to it being a while. If anything it'll be a little better. Also, I'm switching to using human names for Denmark, Norway, and Iceland. There shouldn't be any confusion seeing as they're the most common names I've seen for them, but please ask if there is. At any rate, I hope you enjoy a long-due chapter!

xxxxxx

"Well… when was the last time you saw him?" Mathias asked, trying to get some sort of information.

"Maybe an hour ago? I'm not entirely sure." Tino answered.

"Not entirely sure? A-aren't you two always around each other?" Emil got out. He looked back down at the ground after contributing his bit to the conversation.

Tino hesitated before replying, a look of guilt creeping onto his face. "Yeah, but I went back to the dorm for a bit. When I came back to talk to him, he was gone. Instead there were two other guys and their stuff." The group looked at each other in realization.

"How about we split up, and search the campus for him. He wouldn't have left, and we would have seen if he did," Lukas suggested after having just stood there listening to the conversation.

"Norge! Look at you being all smart," Mathias' eyes sparkled in amusement as he patted Lukas' back.

Lukas glared at Mathias. "Don't touch me. And it doesn't take a genius to come up with a plan like that."

'This guy is so incredibly moody… did I not just help him up while rock climbing? Jeez…' Mathias thought. He clenched his fist but continued anyways. "I'll take the second floor. Norge, you take the gym facilities. Emil, this floor. Tino, take the art building. We'll find him."

"But how do we know if anything f-found him?" Emil asked everyone else.

Tino pondered for a moment then took his phone out of his pocket. "Let's swap numbers. If you find Berwald, then call everyone else to let them know." Tino, Lukas, and Emil huddled together to exchange their numbers as Mathias stood there, watching. "You don't have a phone?"

Lukas chuckled to himself. "Who doesn't have a phone?"

"I… don't…" Mathias' head hung low. "How about if we don't find him, we'll meet back here in an hour? And if we do, we'll just head here? That way I won't keep looking for a few hours while the rest of you are back with Berwald."

"Yeah that works. Let's go, then!" Tino announced with an encouraging smile as he turned to the West exit. He hadn't gone through the campus very much, but the way to the band room was already set in stone in his memory. Out the West exit. Over Silhouette Creek. Into the art building. Go left. Take a right. Band room on the left. Easy as pie. However the task at hand was not to go to the band room. It was to find Berwald.

Tino glanced over to the patio situated on the pond as he crossed the bridge in hopes that Berwald would just be enjoying the scenery there. No such luck. Sprinting at this point, Tino pushed through the grandiose double doors that led to the art building. He took a left deciding that the band room would be a good place to start. Again, Berwald wasn't in there. A quick glance could provide enough proof of that.

The upstairs band room was also empty. 'Where are you Berwald? I miss you already…' Tino thought as he headed into the theatre. It was completely dark, and he had no idea how to turn on anything. "Berwald? Are you in here?" Silence. He turned around and was about to head out when there was a sound of shuffling coming from the house seating.

"T'no? Th't y'u?"

Tino gasped. If he had left two seconds earlier, he wouldn't have heard the movement. "Yes it si. Can you go somewhere with light? Come to the band room, at least…."

Silence. Then the shuffling sound again. "Ok'y." The two made way to the band room, but Tino got there first, sitting cross-legged on the floor waiting for Berwald. The looming figure walked into the band room not too long afterwards. He sat down directly across from Tino. "Did those two guys kick you out of your dorm?"

Berwald nodded.

"You know, you could easily clock them like you did with Mathias. They wouldn't mess with you again."

"B't I didn't w'nt to…" he answered, his gaze falling to the floor.

Tino smiled to himself. 'Berwald really is too king for his own good…' he thought. "You can stay in my room. Mathias won't mind at all and the dorm advisors won't even notice."

Berwald looked at Tino in shock. Or, as much shock as he could muster to show. "You me'n it?"

"Of course. Now let's get you back to the dorm. We'll have Mathias get your stuff into our room."

xxxxxx

"We're gonna have three people in this dorm?" Mathias jumped up and down in excitement. "Party! All day and all night!"

Tino and Berwald exchanged looks, then continued to ignore Mathias. "Berwald, you're gonna have to sleep on the floor. I apologize, but I don't know where else would work better."

He nodded in response. "It's ok'y. B'tter th'n r'oming w'th th'se 'ther two…"

"We should get some sleep now, since school officially starts tomorrow." Tino suggested as he started to get in bed.

"But I'm not even in my pajamas, yet!" Mathias exclaimed as he began throwing around all the stuff surrounding his bed just to find something sufficient enough to sleep in. Tino sighed as he turned out the lights.

xxxxxx

'Why didn't I sit over near Lukas?' The history teacher was writing on the board as Mathias glanced over at Lukas who was sitting on the other side of the classroom. The guy sitting next to Lukas and Emil ha djust shared a joke with his apparent buddy. They snickered rather loudly as the teacher droned on and on about the course syllabus for the year. This was always the hardest part to get through.

"Will you shut up while I'm talking?" Mr. Kell, the history teacher, shouted at the two who were still screwing around. "What're your names?"

The taller one with glasses boldly answered, "Alfred Jones, sir!" He looked at his blonde friend with incredibly bushy eyebrows. "And he's Arthur Kirkland." Arthur scowled as Alfred quickly raised his eyebrows, smirked, and proceeded to wink at him.

Mr. Kell rolled his eyes and scanned the room, glancing at Mathias who happened to be sitting in the front row. "You! Name?"

Mathias jumped in surprise. He hadn't done anything wrong. "Mathias Køhler, sir."

"All right. Switch seats with Mr. Jones," the teacher commanded as he turned back to the board to continue reading.

"What?! Just 'cause we were laughing about something?" Alfred exclaimed, refusing to move. Mr. Kell wheeled his chair up as close to Alfred as he could get.

"I don't like you, little prick. It's only the first day, so you're off to a great start. Now move before I send you out of here." Mr. Kell spat in Alfred's face.

Mathias headed towards Alfred's desk, maneuvering between the teacher and student. "Hey man. We don't wanna start anything here."

Alfred snapped at Mathias. "No one like you will ever tell me what to do." He stormed off to Mathias' desk. "This isn't over."

"Whatever you say, dick." Mathias smirked. This kid was so full of himself.

"Knock it off or I'll kick you out, too!" Mr. Kell growled at Mathias, then continued with the syllabus as if nothing had happened.

Emil leaned over to Mathias, whispering "Whoa… did you really just do that? You're in for something later on…"

**AN:** Again, sorry for the abrupt ending. However I have a map written out of the layout of the school architecture, so hopefully I'll get to describing that more in the upcoming chapters as the Nordics get acclimated to it.


End file.
